Douvres is a quiet village in south-eastern France. According to the residents, "there was always a good atmosphere". But now the idyll is over: a few days ago, a man murdered a family of five and was later shot dead by the police. The small village is in shock.
After five murders in a village in south-eastern France, the police assume it was a mentally disturbed man. According to investigators, the 22-year-old killed his 51-year-old father and his 48-year-old partner, his 17-year-old sister, the 15-year-old daughter of his girlfriend, with a stabbing weapon and a rifle in Douvres, east of Lyon father and the four-year-old boy from the new relationship.
He then holed himself up in the house for hours, where, according to the investigators, he is said to have alerted the police himself. Finally, he was shot dead by security forces on Wednesday morning. According to the first findings of the public prosecutor's office, the perpetrator suffered from "mental disorders".
Prosecutor Christophe Rode said the man had repeatedly refused to lay down his arms. Instead, he finally attacked the gendarmes with drawn rifle, who then shot him and fatally injured him.
Many of the thousand residents of Douvres are in shock after the crime. "We are a small, quiet village. Everyone knows everyone, we are a family," said 30-year-old chef Hervé, who said he had helped to install the electricity in the house of the blended family who died. According to Mayor Christian Limousin, she has lived in the house since July 2020.
Tania, a 35-year-old woman who runs the village café, said the news of the horrific act affected her even though she did not know the family. "There was always a good mood in the village." The 55-year-old Pascale is also appalled. She wonders what drives a "young person to do something like this," she said. According to a family acquaintance, the alleged perpetrator worked for a fast-food chain in a nearby town.
It is one of the worst cases of this type in France in recent years. In October 2020, a father killed his wife, two children and two nephews in Noisy-le-Sec in the Ile-de-France region.
